Social media has become a top-of-mind strategy in job search and career advancement on the job. In order to use social media successfully, you need first to understand your message of value to your target audience and your points of differentiation from your competition. This is where authentic personal branding, based in the reality of who you are, comes into play.

1. “Developing your personal brand is essential for the advancement of your career and development as a leader”. It is true. Knowing, leveraging, and living your personal brand will do more to positively distinguish you from your job competition or professional colleagues than a myriad of other job search or job development activities. Since your personal brand is unique to you and you alone, it becomes the ‘killer app’ in your success arsenal.

2. “Your personal brand should represent the value you are able to consistently deliver to those whom you are serving”. Employers and customers, whom we serve in our jobs, gravitate to people who can demonstrate consistent value. That is at the heart of the communications and supporting activities that express our personal brand.

3. “View your personal brand as a trademark; an asset you must protect while continuously molding and shaping it”. Google your name (put your name in quotation marks first) and review the results. What do your Google results say about you? Do you barely exist online? If so, your personal brand (like your ‘light’) is hiding under a bushel basket! Are there many others with your same name? Then your personal brand may be confused with others, some of whom may not be the most exemplary characters. Is it any wonder that employers may not be calling you for an interview?

4. “Every time you are in a meeting, at a conference, networking reception or other event, you should be mindful of what others are experiencing about you and what you want others to experience about you”. Other people can only form opinions about your personal brand based on what you do and what you say. Fortunately, that is completely under your control!

5. “…focus on being more of who you naturally are and want to be so that you can perform and serve at optimal levels”. Throw off the ‘fake front’ at work or trying to blend in with everyone else. Show commitment to your career growth via your ever-evolving personal brand. Your current personal brand, as viewed through the eyes of others, can develop into your aspirational brand. It starts with awareness and a bit of personal courage.

One final point: personal branding is not just for managers, directors, and executives. We are all the leaders of our own careers, we already have a personal brand (whether we know it or not!), and we can all utilize it for career success. So go for it!

It’s no wonder Chris Brogan makes it to the top of the top 50 social media power influencers’ heap! He has great stuff to say. And he willingly shares his wisdom with the rest of us via his blog and social media outlets such as Twitter (where I follow him and am an unabashed fan!)

In his recent blog post 97 Ideas for Building a Valuable Platform, Chris reveals how to;Start Somewhere. Embrace Brevity. Video, Video, Video. Ideas Drive Platform. Be Yourself. Humble Is Better Marketing. Your Three Roles. Overnight Success. What to Talk/Write About. What to Avoid.

The section of tips (41-50) on Be Yourself directly relates to personal branding, my passion. So of course I have to share these with you. Follow these tips when you want to express and live your personal brand every day. And you want to, of course, don’t you?

Be Yourself 41. The more I act like myself, instead of like what I thought the world wanted, the more successful I become.

42. Realize that there’s a “hot mess” line, meaning that you have to filter the “you” that you put out there a little bit. People don’t want to hear every woe and misery in your life. (Most times. Dooce not withstanding.)

43. Realize that being yourself means you won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Embrace that.

44. The “yourself” that most people want you to be is the one that they can learn something from. And yet, if that’s not what you want to be, disregard me and be yourself.

45. Part of being yourself is untangling from other people’s expectations. This is a very difficult matter, and yet important to building your platform.

46. “Be yourself” doesn’t mean be only about yourself. Connecting with and caring about others is always a trait that earns more attention.

47. It’s great to have a lot of passions. When displaying this via your platform, try to tie them to a larger storyline so that people understand how they connect.

48. Never let your shortcomings become your reasons why not. Richard Branson is dyslexic. Ryan Blair went from gang member to millionaire success story. Excuses are Band-Aids on wounds that don’t exist.

49. Marsha Collier said it best: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”

50. Start where you are. Lots of people worry that everyone’s so far ahead. Those people? They started somewhere.

My professional association with Reach Personal Branding began in 2004 when personal branding was still a relatively new concept with the general public. Despite Tom Peters’ seminal article The Brand Called You! in Fast Company magazine in 1997, the idea of being the CEO of your own personal brand was still in its infancy.

Personally, my career services business as the Career Assessment Goddess would not have existed had I not discovered and leveraged my personal brand. With all the certifications that Reach has to offer in my toolbox, I have focused on helping career professionals and executives achieve their career targets. So, thank you William for the spark that has made this all possible!

To aid you with your job search and career development, here are some resources brought to you by William Arruda as part of the Reach 10th Anniversary Celebration ...

If you, the job seeker, could have a magic wand in an interview, you would likely wave it to get inside the interviewer’s head. Why? To figure out exactly what the employer or recruiter wants in the ideal candidate and to determine how you are measuring up.

But no magic wand is needed for interviewing. According to George Bradt, an executive onboarding consultant, it’s really simple. There really are only three interview questions:

Can you do the job? Strengths

Will you love the job? Motivation

Can we tolerate working with you? Culture fit

I would like to suggest an addendum to the first question: “Can you do the job…and do it so well that it brings value to the employer?”

Having the training, experience and other qualifications to do the job puts you in the long line-up of thousands of other applicants who have similar qualifications. That alone is not so special.

So the real question becomes, “How well can you actually do the job?” Are you a “seat-warmer” just putting in your time each day, or do you deliver exceptional results?

This is where quantifiable accomplishments become important. Those accomplishments can demonstrate to the interviewer that you are not a run-of-the-mill applicant. Instead, you are focused on excellence and bringing value to the employer.

No matter the job role you have, there are always quantifiable accomplishments you can talk about in your Personal Brand Stories. These concise stories have a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning entices with a problem or challenge you ultimately addressed, the middle tells the actions you took that are representative of your personal branding strengths, and the end reveals the quantifiable achievement and ultimate value to the employer.

It can be daunting to write and condense your brand stories into a 1-2 minute interview answer. Here is an example of a brand story relating calm and effective leadership in the face of a crisis:

Stepping into the newly created role of City Manager, I was immediately challenged with responding to the aftermath of two successive hurricanes hitting the city. With no previous emergency plan to go by, I created a strategic crisis plan, engaged and motivated the community in a massive clean-up effort, and negotiated with government agencies for assistance. Those efforts culminated in an orderly and collaborative city clean-up within 3 months and 100% FEMA reimbursement within 5 months.

Give interviewers concrete brand stories to sink their teeth into and you may just be amazed at your interviewing results. Instead of a drab recitation of job duties, you will have appealed to the interviewer with the W-I-I-F-M (what’s-in-it-for-me) motivator of bottom-line value to them.

What are your compelling personal brand stories? How do they demonstrate relevant value to the employer based on your real-life accomplishments? Answer the underlying or explicit question of “Can you do the job…and do it well?” in terms of your strengths for the job AND your verifiable track record of results and value to outstrip other candidates.

The Reach Personal Branding Interview Series for 2010 is now history…and what a spectacular year it was! As the Executive Producer of the Interview Series for the past three years (thanks Kirsten Dixson for recommending me for the job!), I have seen the number of registrants for the live phone calls skyrocket as word has spread about our high-caliber guest experts.

The Interview Series focuses on cutting-edge themes in career management, job search, entrepreneurship, and business leadership and growth. The themes chosen typically relate to one or more of the three steps of the Reach personal branding process or associated career and business issues.

The following guests and topics were featured in the Reach Interview Series for 2010. You can find the audio recordings of their one-hour interviews at Personal Branding TV.

Elizabeth Craig – author of Don’t Slurp Your Soup: A Basic Guide to Business EtiquetteThe Confidence Factor: Etiquette for Success in Job Search and Business

Pam Slim – author of Escape from Cubicle NationHow to Build a Tribe of Supportive Clients, Peers and Mentors

John Baldoni – author of Lead Your BossLead Your Boss: What that Means and Why It Matters

Marshall Goldsmith – author of MOJOMOJO: A New Approach to Increasing Engagement at Work and at Home

Thanks to the engagement and encouragement of William Arruda who interviews the guest experts each month. William’s conversational style, infectious enthusiasm for each topic and guest, and insightful questions and comments make each interview an auditory delight! My boundless gratitude to Tara Kachaturoff, Rachel Gogos, and Regina who also comprise the Reach Interview Series team and make my job that much easier!

“Personal branding? What’s that?” This question, often accompanied by quizzical expressions or even a hint of disbelief, was commonplace whenever I delivered public presentations or spoke to clients about personal branding in the past. Confidently explaining the concept, while being viewed as though I had two heads, was a challenge.

I will admit I am often drawn to cutting-edge, high-impact concepts and tools. That’s part of my personal brand (forward-thinking and strategic). So when the article The Brand Called You by Tom Peters first appeared in FAST Company magazine in Aug. 31, 1997 I was smitten! That article was the harbinger of and clarion call to the concept of personal branding, as it relates to our own career management.

“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.” – Tom Peters, The Brand Called You

Inexplicably, personal branding took awhile to percolate into the American consciousness and gain acceptability. But hallelujah! It has happened! According to the latest Kelly Global Workforce Index study, people are taking charge of their careers and their personal brand. For example,

More than 60% of Americans recognize the importance of verbal communications in personal branding,

More than 60% believe they will need to change careers in their future,

More than 50% are active in using social media to promote their personal brand, and

More than half of the Americans surveyed were willing to invest their own hard-earned cash to upgrade their skills.

As the world of work has changed at a more rapid pace, the ability to adapt to new, proactive job-search strategies and tools has increasingly defined the successful job seeker. While it does take more effort and ongoing involvement, career management is about clarifying and expressing your personal brand AND your value to a potential employer or customer.

Your target audience is not every hiring manager or potential customer in the whole wide world! Instead, it is a select group of companies, organizations, and individuals who will find your personal brand and brand value proposition to be relevant and compelling. This is the foundation for managing your career future, whether you are currently employed and/or a job seeker.

Do not despair! You DO have a brand (whether you know it or not)!

“The good news -- and it is largely good news -- is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.” – Tom Peters, The Brand Called You

Video rules! After resisting the video tsunami for too long, I have become an evangelist! With profiles on many of the online social media and professional networking websites, including LinkedIn and Twitter, I had long pooh-poohed the "real need' for video.

Then a client remarked to me in a webcam coaching session one day that seeing me "pumped her up" for her job search - a lot! I had one of those "a-ha" moments that make you wonder, "Duh! Why didn't I think of this sooner?"

So, in the spirit of inspiring and encouraging all job seekers, here is my VideoBIO:

In fact, I have obtained certification as a VideoBIO Producer! I now can assist my clients with personal branding, scripting to showcase their personal brand to their target audience, image tips, high-impact delivery style, and editing to get to the meat of the message.

Since video is very SEO friendly, it could be just what you need to attain page-one status on search engines. Whether you are in a job search or an entrepreneur, video can capture the immediate attention and interest of prospective employers, recruiters and/or clients. Video is truly a personal branding differentiator!

Expressing your personal brand is about revealing what makes you distinct and reveling in that distinction. That means being transparent and promoting what makes you exceptional: your authentic attributes, strengths, skills, leadership competencies, accomplishments and more.

1. Be the one. What are you the go-to person for? Based on your past behaviors, demonstrated knowledge, personal style, and accomplishments, others have associated your name with “certainties” about you. Perhaps you are the one they depend on to smooth out differences of opinion on a team and get the project moving along productively. Or perhaps you are known as a subject-matter-expert on a particular topic. This top-of-mind reputation contributes to your personal brand as “the one” for … (fill in the blank).

2. Demonstrate initiative. Now is not the time to keep your head down and do your best to be invisible while performing your job functions. Show you are engaged and committed to positive outcomes for your company and yourself! Initiate new projects or volunteer for existing ones that reinforce your personal brand or expand on it, even if the projects are unpopular. These activities will provide super visibility precisely because others will be intrigued and will want to follow the process. Use your personal-branding strengths and attributes to accomplish something great, when others expect you to fail, and you will gain attention and credibility.

3. Show off. This is not about an ego trip; rather, showcase your accomplishments and the accomplishments of your team. Be gracious and recognize their unique contributions. Turn the spotlight on the entire team and publicly celebrate small and large successes, as well as what you have learned along the way.

Attaining visibility and credibility for your personal brand within your company culture can be a challenge. But the alternative is being anonymous, like a replaceable commodity. If you are perceived of as easily replaced, how long do you think you will last? If you do not promote yourself, who will?

For more, check out the John Baldoni interview "Lead Your Boss: What That Means and Why It Matters" with William Aruda on the March 2010 Reach Personal Branding Interview Series.

Google your name (put it in quotation marks first) and see what you get. Is the first page of Google results really about you or someone else? Do you have an “online identity” at all? Does it really matter?

Common sense tells us that people are searching the Web more than ever before for all types of products and commodities, as well as for individuals. You know that’s true, because you do it yourself.

In Online Identity Management and Job Search, I wrote about an online reputation survey sponsored by Microsoft in December 2009. It revealed that 79% of the U.S. hiring managers and recruiters surveyed said they researched the online identities of job candidates BEFORE extending an invitation to interview. Now here is the golden nugget: 70% of those hiring managers and recruiters rejected candidates based on what they found about them online.

These statistics could just as easily describe the actions of potential clients and customers if you are a small business owner, of potential investors if you are a budding entrepreneur, or of your own boss at work who is trying to determine who to promote or assign to a “special” project.

Online identity management is career management for the employed and unemployed. Online identity management is also business management, particularly if your small business centers on you. Rather than waiting and hoping that your career or business future plays out successfully, why not take back control? Find out how you can get found online, differentiate yourself, and stand out positively from your competition.

Quick bragging moment: I recently completed my 2010 re-certification (passed with a perfect score!) as an Online Identity Management Strategist with Reach Personal Branding. And it has produced remarkable results. For example, with my up-to-date knowledge of online identity strategies and tools, I helped turnaround a no-interview-in-six-months situation for a client into multiple job interviews within one month’s time.

So, what DOES your online identity (or lack thereof) say about you? What results are you getting?